Hampshire Primary

WASHINGTON -- One of the more puzzling facts of American political life is that neither party ever seems to learn anything from the opposition. There is no clearer example than the decision by some Republican state party organizations to conduct straw votes on preferences for the party's presidential nomination in 1996.The first of this campaign was held in Louisiana at a party convention in Baton Rouge last week. And the big winner in this "test" was Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, who personally called delegates -- a few even on Christmas Day, according to reports from the convention -- to seek their support and came away with 72 percent of the vote.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The 1992 presidential campaign that shaped up as a big yawn only months ago has already blossomed into a two-party donnybrook as a result of the scare thrown into President Bush in yesterday's New Hampshire primary and the prospect for an extended fight for the Democratic nomination.Television and newspaper commentator Patrick J. Buchanan's strong showing against Mr. Bush suggests a vulnerability that the Democrats can exploit -- if they can find a winning candidate from the uncertain beginning of their search in New Hampshire.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Like all the presidential contenders in Iowa, John Edwards boasts that he's gaining momentum in the final days before Monday's caucuses. In his case, at least, that appears to be right. "There is so much energy and excitement," the North Carolina senator exclaimed yesterday as he tried to rally support at an Iowa retirement community. "We're past all the preliminaries. We've got less than a week." Edwards might be the best-positioned of all the candidates to pull off a surprise showing here.

THE REPORT that Patrick Buchanan, the Nixon and Reagan White House speech writer/political operative turned columnist, is considering a challenge to President Bush for the 1992 Republican nomination is in keeping with the history of protest politics over the last 40 years.Buchanan, who has been fiercely critical of Bush as an ersatz conservative, would join eight notable political figur over that period -- five Democrats rand three Republicans -- who ran against incumbent presidents of their own party.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- On paper, Dick Lugar should be a formidable contender for the Republican presidential nomination. In his three terms in the Senate and earlier as mayor of Indianapolis he has earned a reputation as a heavyweight on a variety of issues.But whether the Indiana senator has the knack for presenting himself aggressively and succinctly enough for an electorate that relies on television sound bites is still an unanswered question as he approaches a final decision on whether to run.The one thing that is clear is that Lugar is taking a distinctly different approach.

WASHINGTON - Eager to amass a voter army for the fall, Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign will embark this week on an ambitious plan to mobilize voters through a series of national house parties similar to those popularized by former rival Howard Dean. The first wave of house parties is scheduled to take place next Saturday, with Kerry addressing the gatherings in a 6 p.m. conference call, according to the candidate's Web site. "We want to take advantage of the energy out there and get people invested," said Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor of New Hampshire and Kerry's national chairwoman.

WASHINGTON - The significance of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's decision to finance his campaign without federal money is emerging in a 50-state strategy designed to outgun the rest of the 2004 Democratic presidential field. While the eight other Democratic candidates focus on next month's kickoff Iowa precinct caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Dr. Dean's self-financed campaign is already staffing and planning heavy spending in many states beyond the opening round of delegate-selecting contests.

WASHINGTON -- It is the unfortunate fate of George Romney, the former Michigan governor and Cabinet secretary who died Wednesday at 88, that he may be best remembered for a casual television remark that brought his 1968 bid for the Republican presidential nomination crashing down, clearing the path for the eventual election of President Richard Nixon.That was Romney's offhand observation in a television interview that during a visit to Vietnam he had been "brainwashed" by American generals and diplomats, temporarily convincing him of the necessity of the U.S. war effort there, but that he had since changed his mind.

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Dan Quayle, acknowledging that "reality set in" about his dim chances for the Republican presidential nomination, dropped out of the race yesterday, citing the huge financial advantage held by Texas Gov. George W. Bush and the bunched-up calendar of primaries and caucuses in early 2000.At a news conference in Phoenix, Quayle said he had enough resources to compete in the two earliest major tests -- the precinct caucuses in Iowa and the New Hampshire primary -- and thought he had a good chance of winning the latter, "but you need more than that."

BEDFORD, N.H. -- Tapping the fears and resentments of an anxious working class, Patrick J. Buchanan threw the Republican nomination up for grabs yesterday with a stunning upset of Sen. Bob Dole in the New Hampshire primary.The race was the closest here in at least 20 years. Out of more than 200,000 votes cast, only about 2,300 votes separated the leaders.Former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, who badly wanted to finish in the top two, had to settle for third. Magazine publisher Steve Forbes, once a leader in the polls, was a distant fourth.